Peer review report of the National Action Plan on the results of the BelNPP stress tests was endorsed at the ENSREG plenary

On November 24, 2021, a plenary meeting of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) was held, in which Gosatomnadzor participated via videoconferencing as an observer. Relevant issues of nuclear safety regulation were discussed during the event, including EU Peer Review Report «Implementation of Belarusian Stress National Action Plan». Following the discussion, the Report was approved.

The ENSREG Report notes that the National Action Plan reflects all of ENSREG recommendations 2018, which were formulated based on the results of the peer review of the National Stress Tests Report of the Belarusian NPP.

All the actions that Gosatomnadzor and the Belarusian NPP decided to take are meeting the intent of the ENSREG recommendations 2018.

Of the 22 recommendations outlined in the ENSREG Report 2018, 17 have been fully implemented and can be considered completed. Actions related to 5 recommendations are being implemented and meet the intent of ENSREG recommendations. GAN and Belarusian NPP expedited the implementation of several actions compared to the original schedule.

ENSREG experts consider that significant progress has been made in the implementation of the National Action Plan.

The openness and transparency of the Belarusian side was noted, including the publication of the National Action Plan on the Internet resource of Gosatomnadzor, as well as consistent coverage by Gosatomnadzor of various stages of the peer review on its Internet resource and with the involvement of the media.

Ms. Olga Lugovskaya, Head of Gosatomnadzor, thanked the ENSREG team headed by Mr. Petteri Tiippanna for the constructive and fruitful cooperation and joint work at all stages of the peer review, informed that in November 2021 the National Action Plan had been amended taking into account the results of its activities in 2019 - 2021, as well as the results of cooperation with ENSREG experts within the peer review 2020 - 2021. The Head of Gosatomnadzor assured that all the activities of the National Action Plan would be implemented in a timely manner and under the supervision of the Belarusian regulatory authority.

The ENSREG report as well as the corresponding press release is published on on the ENSREG website. The document (including its Russian version) can also be found in a special section of the Gosatomnadzor Internet resource here.

Reference:

ENSREG is an independent expert advisory group established in 2007 by the decision of the European Commission. It is composed of high-level officials from national regulatory bodies for nuclear safety, radioactive waste safety and radiation protection, as well as individuals from the Member States of the European Union with competence in these areas, and representatives of the European Commission. Belarus represented by Gosatomnadzor was invited to ENSREG as an observer in 2018.

Stress tests of the Belarusian NPP were carried out in 2016-2018 according to the procedure of the European Union and included three stages: self-assessment of the Belarusian NPP, national assessment and peer review of the the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group ENSREG. In 2019, Gosatomnadzor, together with interested parties, formed the corresponding National Action Plan.